Colombia in the area of Bogota -March 13-17

Golden-fronted Redstart (Yellow-fronted), Junin, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 16, 2022 

Just returned from another trip down south with the destination this time being the Bogota area of Colombia. My two main targets were Gray throated Warbler and Golden fronted Redstart (white faced subspecies) with a secondary target being the Cabanis’s subspecies of Golden crowned Warbler (considered a separate species by some authorities). The trip was thrown together when our original plan to go back to Costa Rica in March got derailed when Sherri somehow managed to not catch Covid when I had when we were down in Costa Rica in January. We didn’t want to take the chance of her getting down there and then get stuck like I did. We decided instead to go to Florida but before I met her there I wanted to take advantage of going out of the country and not having to test as I recently recovered from Covid. There are still lots of restrictions in a few other spots I wanted to go but Colombia only required a Covid vaccination and some paperwork. I then looked at the remaining warblers I have not seen yet and decided a few days around the Bogota area should produce the targets mentioned above. This was my second trip down to Colombia with my first being a trip to the Santa Marta Mountains in February of 2020. I hired a guide for each full day in the area through bogota birding with my guide being Oswaldo for the first day and Camilo for the two other days. After a long day of traveling I made it to my hotel late in the day on Sunday the 13th after hours spent in immigration and customs. 

Gray throated Warbler, Laguna El Tabacal, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 14, 2022

Gray throated Warbler habitat, Laguna El Tabacal, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 14, 2022

Blackburnian Warbler, Laguna El Tabacal, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 14, 2022

Canada Warbler, Laguna El Tabacal, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 14, 2022

Monday I met Oswaldo and the driver Sebastian at 5AM and we headed to Laguna El Tabacal with the main target there being Gray throated Warbler. After a long drive through terrible traffic in the city and a stop for breakfast we made it there around 7:30 and started walking the roadside and then the trails. 

Once we got on the trails we had a single Gray throated Warbler fairly quickly but it disappeared after showing briefly. We then spent hours trying to get better photos of the warbler but never really got any great shots. We came across at least five individuals throughout our time on the trails. Even though I only managed to get a marginal photo of the species I did get some great looks at it. The species does not respond well to anything and stays down fairly low in dense thickets and never stops moving…not an easy target for photos at all. Nonetheless even without great photos it was a great way to spend nearly six hours for sure. 

Golden fronted Redstart (Yellow fronted), Alto de Vino, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 14, 2022

Golden fronted Redstart (Yellow fronted), Alto de Vino, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 14, 2022

Black crested Warbler, Alto de Vino, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 14, 2022

After lunch we headed up to Alto de Vino on our way back to Bogota. We walked along various parts of the road and turned up some fantastic looks at Golden fronted Redstarts (yellow fronted subspecies) with some showing quite well down low. We continued walking along the road and eventually turned up some Black crested Warblers just as the rain moved in. I had seen the species before in Ecuador but it was nice to get some great looks at it as well as some photos. 

Blackburnian Warbler, Finca Las Hermanas, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 15, 2022

Blackburnian Warbler, Finca Las Hermanas, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 15, 2022

Golden-crowned Warbler (Cabanis's), Finca Las Hermanas, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 15, 2022

Slate throated Redstart, Monterredondo, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 15, 2022

Tuesday was another early 5AM start out of Bogota heading off to the southeast with the final destination being Monterredondo. The guide for this day and the following day was Camilo Orjuela. Thankfully the traffic out of the city was a bit better than the previous day. We made it to the start of the road up the mountain a bit before 8AM after a quick breakfast stop.  The big target bird for the day was the Cabanis’s subspecies of Golden crowned Warbler, which is considered a full species by some authorities and is then known as Cabanis’s Warbler. We had a pair fairly early on but then spent nearly an hour and a half trying to get a photo. We got brief but good looks of the warbler but this is another skulking species that spends all its time down low in thick tangles and just would not cooperate for photos. I eventually got a few partial body shots and a few blurry photos but that would have to suffice. The rest of the morning into the afternoon was spent moving steadily higher up. The rest of the day when spent along the road going higher up in elevation.  We had a total of eight species of warbler for the day with the a few new ones for the trip including the above mentioned subspecies of Golden crowned Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Three striped Warbler and Slate throated Redstart.  A bit before three we headed back down the mountain and started the long drive back to Bogota with a few brief stops along the way back down. The traffic was bad but not as bad as Monday and we made it back to my hotel around 6:30. Another long but productive day. 

Golden-fronted Redstart (Yellow-fronted), Junin, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 16, 2022 

Golden-fronted Redstart (Yellow-fronted), Junin, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Mar 16, 2022 

Wednesday we went northeast of the city and headed up in elevation once again. Most of our day was spent along the roads at Reserva Bosque Guajira.  We started off the morning with more Golden fronted Redstarts with a couple showing quite well. Blackburnian Warblers were around in good numbers once again at multiple stops.  The only other warbler we had for the day was a Black crested Warbler.  I flew out on on 17th to meet Sherri in Florida to continue the vacation (more on that part of the trip later).

Overall for the trip I had 15 species of warblers with two new species (Gray throated Warbler and Golden fronted Redstart) plus a few new subspecies that could get split at some point. The most numerous species overall was Blackburnian Warbler (the default warbler in most areas) followed by Canada Warblers.